One of my dream items at home was a Fujifilm Instax, you might ask why and my answer is why not? Kidding aside, I had longed for it ever since I was small. I remember back when I was still young, my cousin's friend gave her a Polaroid photo. I got super interested in it and was more curious that the photos come out right after taking the photo and its like magic, revealing the photo right there and then!
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For a young girl, it was the coolest thing and I since then, I dreamed of having one. Now that I am in my midlife, I am a little sad I didn't have the chance to get a hand on one. I never had taken a photo with it or at least touch one.
Anyway, there's actually a reason behind why I didn't get to buy one although I can surely afford to get one if I wanted to. It all boils down to practicality. But after numerous printers, and getting disappointed with not getting the proper photo print results with those, we finally got ourselves a photo printer, a portable one and it's from Canon!
Introducing Canon SELPHY CP1300 Portable Photo Printer!
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I love journals and if you have been following my blogs, I blogged about it several times.
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Level up Your Journaling Skills
One of the limitations I had encountered creating journal pages is the adding photos part. I badly want a polaroid photo on one of my journal pages but it felt like its an overkill because first, it has thick photo paper because of its instant magic photo-development property and second, it has thick bordering, this will cause my journals to have those page spaces due to the thick photos.
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Then looking at the market, there are more options which can provide us with efficient and more practical uses as a printer which of course almost has the same price or maybe just a little bit higher. Which is why I had really never bought an Instax until now.
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce our new Canon SELPHY CP1300 Portable Photo Printer! It's quite a long name but that's how Canon named it.
Canon SELPHY CP1300 is a portable photo printer which is WIFI enabled which allows mobile phone and any other WIFI devices to connect to it and printing become as easy as a piece of cake! It a display and buttons in it which allows the users to easily navigate on its menus and options.
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Although bigger in size compared to other portable printers, it was still the best option for us as it has bigger image options and of course I can surely edit the photos, add multiple images on one layout, print and cut them for my journal! Plus, James can also use it to print our travel photos, stick them on the wall, adore them all we want and perhaps send them as postcards too to some friends!
Unboxing Canon SELPHY
Video credits: Jean Beltran via YouTube
It was planned but not demanded, both James and I knew we need a photo printer but we also knew it was not an urgent need. And so we had just swept the idea under the rug until one day, we saw a post of a brand new Canon SELPHY CP1300, the latest one, not even used and was sold at Php 6,000. It's original price, however, is at Php 8995 so we both believe it was indeed the perfect time to get one, we are both suckers of anything that we can get discount but of course with the best item.
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So last Friday, James came home with the Canon SELPHY CP1300 after the meetup with the seller who received it as a gift but didn't really think of using it, he's also based in Cebu so the transaction was pretty smooth.
What the box came with?
- SELPHY Printer
- Compact Power Adapter
- Power Cord
- Paper Cassette
Ink and paper are sold separately which I was surprised but nevertheless okay with it, I can't do anything about it though than just buy a set.
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Looking into the white printer, I followed the instructions with how to set it up, unfortunately, we have to wait for the paper and ink to really try it and print a sample one.
Canon SELPHY CP1300 Test Print
The box didn't come with any paper or ink so it has to be bought separately. A set of 108 photo papers and ink costs Php 1500, we bought it at the Canon store in SM Cebu.
Today, we did a test print and this was how it works:
Video credits: Jean Beltran via YouTube
The first step was to load the ink cassette. The printer has a compartment cover, the cassette gets into the compartment one way only to ensure that it won't be inserted incorrectly. Then close the cover.
Next was loading the paper cassette. It only gets into the printer one way so there were no issues with attaching it. Then the paper comes next. It can only accommodate a maximum number of 18 photo papers, it loaded with more than that, it will damage the printer or cause malfunction.
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Third, turn on the printer. There are two options, either you use power cord or buy a separate battery so one can use it on the go. Upon turning on, a Canon logo will welcome each user and the option gets displayed. Navigation isn't an issue with its easy to touch buttons.
For the test, I used the WIFI capabilities of the printer while it works with SD cards too. It needs an application for it to communicate with the phone so I had to install the Canon Print application which is a free one. Once connected, it will show the options such as print a photo which was what I needed. I selected two photos and printed them.
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Printing process took around four rounds, first was yellow, then red and the dark tones, then lastly the protective silk which will help the photo become waterproof.
The image quality looks good, although I feel like it differs a bit in the color it still looks stunning. I am quite excited to print more photos especially those that I will be adding to my journal.
My Overall First Impressions
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It was cute and very nice, in my mind, I have a lot of plans on what to do and how to work with it but for now, I am just going to chill and edit more photos for it.
The only thing that I dislike though is the fact that it was actually doesn't have a touchscreen. I don't know why I had that impression but it turned out to be not a touchscreen at all. Anyway, I am still okay with it.
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With a compact photo printer like this, I am totally encouraged to get back to my journaling habit. Our next trip will still be in Mindanao, we are going to Bukidnon and Cagayan De Oro so it would be a nice start to printing those travel shots!
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Thanks for reading!
About the author:
Jean Beltran-Figues is a photography enthusiast.
A traveler who wants to promote her beloved country, the Philippines.
